DJ Premier

DJ Premier

Premier has to be one of the first people that come to mind on amazing hip hop music producers of all time. His words have always been an inspiration to myself and others. Here is a small yet powerful interview he did with Fader magazine. I agree with everything he has to say. " People need to raise the bar"

Interview: Kutmasta Kurt

Introducing: Kutmasta Kurt

The always busy Kutmasta Kurt has been doing things nonstop for a while.
Kurt had been DJing in the Bay Area since the mid-'80s, getting his start as a teenager on a Santa Cruz community radio station. In 1988, he moved on to the Stanford University college station, and also mixed live at parties around the University of California-Santa Cruz campus.
Had a moment to catch up with him on different topics from fortune cookies to dolphins to films. Enjoy.

How are you doing today?

pretty good, thanks. how are you doing today?

If you’re in a restaurant and opened a fortune cookie, what would your fortune read?

好運是你的，您有巨型陰莖!

If you had to be an animal, what would it be and why?

prob a dolphin. looks like they have a lot of fun. oh accept for when they end up in our tuna fish sandwiches...well every tunafish sandwich has a little dolphin it in.

When you have time to do any reading, what books or blogs do you find amusing?

i just read the weaponless warriors by richard kim. blog wise i read my 2 yr old neices blog and i'll be checking out this one now too.

Where did you get the most interesting mixtape at and what was it?

when i was just in kanazawa. this funky cassette called kutmasta kurt instrumental: love the way you kut! i never had anyone give me a mixtape of my own stuff!

What about the futuristic sounding space beats?

they aren't futuristic anymore, space is now retro, like the 90's. besides they landed on the moon in the 60's, so what's so futuristic about space anyways? i think space beats are either for ravers who take too many drugs, or people like me who like retro sci-fi from the 70's like the tv show lost in space.

Do you find that Polka has a future with Hip Hop artists and why?

any kinda music can be flipped if the right person gets a hold of it. i sampled an old mexican song for motion man and flipped it for the song "pablito's way", but the roots of that music is really from polka. so no offense meant to the fans of that classic style of mexican music, but you are already fans of polka too, you just didn't know it. sorta like how you're automatically fans of mc hammer if you're fans of the blackeyed peas.

Did you ever get into Go-Go music from D.C. ?

yeah, drop the bomb on the white folks too! i wish i had more of it, but i have a little collection with some of the best ones, like let's get small, in the mix, and of course pump me up. the best go go record i have is from philly and it's called scratchin to the funk by dr funkenstien (dj cash money) where he's cutting the fuck out of all of those records on the 1's & 2's.

Who are the Funky Redneck backing band and cowgirl dancers?

i'm accepting tryouts now, b/c my current dancers the dallas cowgirls, are about to go back to cheering when the nfl season starts again soon.

maybe i can get the raiderettes, they have nothing to cheer for anyways.

How was it to work with the Butthole Surfers on a remix? Still keep in touch with Gibby?

i saw gibby last year in the uk, and he was too busy jocking keith, he didn't even say much to me...but he was drunk off his ass, so i understand.

btw i don't even know if that remix was ever released...have you heard it?

Any other bands that you worked with or toured with that you found interesting? I heard that you did some stuff with the Faint?

the faint were cool peeps to tour with...what up todd fink? it was also interesting to tour with RHCP, they are legends, and total characters, especially frushante. i had fun hanging out with them. one day we took a tour bus to a strip club in houston after the gig, and chris rock and rick rubin joined us. keith missed out on that one.

What is the concept of Dr. Dooom 2 and what was it like to create it?

the concept is a crazy dude from the projects going jeffry dhamer on dr octagon and the spoiled trust fund kids who call themselves music critics (and never bought a n album).

creating it was fun, it was a chance to get out my iller sounding tracks and push keith in the vocal booth to work a harder then he's used to. i make him work when we make albums, he hates me for it at the time and thanks me for it when it's all done.

What is the process that you use to create your concepts for albums or remixes?

i drink some of my grandaddy's moonshine, and then i get out the gut bucket and start to pluck it.

Do you have any future projects that you are working on?

yeah the funkyredneck sings album.

Any thoughts about collaborations with other producers?

haven't done it very often. usually more by circumstance. usually up and coming producers approach me, i'd rather work with more established producers for a change. maybe phil specter would like to collab? oh wait is he in jail or something?

Going through heavy touring and all, what’s the most random interesting situation that you been in with all your time spent on the road?

jeez louise, life on the road just isn't always that interesting..at least to me. but one thing i remember was when we had a bunch of dudes on a big tour bus together, no one was cleaning up the messes they made, so the driver got fed up and called a groupie chic he knew (from a previous tour) and she flew in to ride with us and clean the bus for us. oh and btw she got banged by pretty much everyone (accept me), yes i have standards...she was missing some teeth and was on all sorts of substances.

What’s your favorite place to visit in the globe?

on tour it's thailand. for leisure, prob bonaire.

What was some of your favorite music videos from the past when growing up?

thriller, and buffalo gals.

What are some films that you are currently liking and why?

the cats of mirkatani, b/c it shows that even an old dude in his 80's can still get down with is art wether homless, or previously put into a concentration camp for years.

Do you find that some of the films that you watch have an influence on your production work?

maybe they can inspire me in certain ways. it's prob more subliminal then overt. i think a good film seeps into your cells then expresses it's self after being mutated by your body's own unique way it's process input. so i could go see a funny horror flick and then years later it's effect might show it's self a little in the way i made the dr dooom2 album...but it might not be obvious to others..maybe i won't even recognize or notice it myself.

Any thoughts about working on contributing to film soundtracks and if so what kind of films?

the title track for grandma's boy was fun, although i heard the film flopped.

other then that i'm looking to do more, so to the music supervisors reading, get at me, i'm into all types of films, especially horror and comedy's.

What is or who is your favorite film monster character?

the tall man (angus scrimm): boooooyyyyyyy!

More info on Kutmasta Kurt can be found at:

www.myspace.com/kutmastakurt
www.threshrecs.com/

introducing Nick Nack

Introducing Nick Nack

I had the pleasure to have a type out with the technology savy Nick Nack of Austin TX about the industry of technology in music for the musician out there. Catch him around town. I'm still jealous about the Zebra shirt he is rocking in the pic.

What is your history with technology in the music world and how did
you get started?

The first influential piece of musical technology that I owned would
undoubtedly be a Fisher Price turntable that my sister and I used to
listen to story book LPs on. I still have one of our favs, "The
Amazing Adventures of PacMan" ->
http://www.walrusmusicblog.com/blog/pacman_wants_the_day_off/

I purchased my own turntable when I was around 12 years old and that's
roughly when I started taking DJing more seriously. I started by
trying to imitate DJ Aladdin's scratching on Low Profile's debut
album. I DJ'd my first house party when I was 13 or so, it was in a
barn and my dad had to drive me to the gig. Later I was in several DJ
battles in Dallas and continued that when I moved to Austin. While at
UT I had my own hip-hop radio show where I mixed live on KVRX.

As far as production, I started on an MPC around 1997. I wanted to
play more basslines, etc... so I quickly migrated to the ASR10 and
around 1999 fully to the computer. Funny, I remember quite a few
people in the Austin hip-hop scene snickering at the fact that I made
my RE: Construction album partly with my computer.

What are some changes in the status quo of technology in
entertainment you've seen?

Now a days most people make music on their computers. It wasn't like
that even 10 years ago! Crazy how times change. These days you can
make a very dope studio and only spend like $5k. Just 10 years ago
that same studio would have been cost prohibitive for us indie
artists.

Anything you favor or prefer?

I actually started out on PC in the early 90s around Windows 3, but
after being getting a rootkit I have decided that I need to migrate
all my systems to Mac or Linux. I just don't see Windows being a
secure platform until they fully address the registry issues.

With production tools where do you see it going?

I think in the past 2-4 years there has been a massive movement
towards producing for live shows and merging the two. Ableton Live is
a prime example. I remember when it was first introduced in 2001 and
now it's taken the industry by storm in less than 7 years. We will
see more production apps gearing themselves towards performing live or
integrating with live performances.

Any new upcoming changes for the digital jockey?

Changes? Hmmm...maybe not so much, but DJs have to be able to adapt
to new technology QUICKLY. Serato and other DVS came onto the scene
hard in 2003. I still can't believe some DJs just got a DVS in the
past year or two. To me, if you aren't evolving and adapting WITH
technology, you are losing. There will always be new technologies and
lots of hungry new DJs.

That being said, I think there has been a movement back towards
respecting DJs who actually have skills. Whether it be scratching,
beat juggling, mixing, remixing, etc... B/c technology is so abundant
and so cheap, there has been a proliferation of DJs. Everyone is a DJ
today! Most of them suck ass and I think that's why audiences are
going back to appreciating real skill. It's something you certainly
can't fake ;)

What are some of your past production tools that you favor? Still
keep around.

A real Fender Rhodes Suitcase 88. A Fender Jazz bass. Congas, bongos
and various real percussion instruments. Oh and last but CERTAINLY
not least...my vinyl collection. I was raised by hip-hop. Sampling
is in my blood. While I enjoy crafting songs from scratch myself, I
will never give up the desire to sample. It's a true art form.

Any tips for people getting into the saddle of making beats or
getting there foot in the door?

Have fun. Don't worry about what the current trends are, speak with
your soul. Anything else is simply work.


What's your favorite film monster?

Robert DeNiro from Tax Driver

More info about Nick Nack can be found at the following;
www.myspace.com/nicknack
www.crowdcontrolrecords.com
www.gigacrate.com